joining me now is bill richardson, ambassador to the united nations from 1997 to 1998. he's also the former governor of new mexico. governor, thanks for being here tonight. >> nice to be with you, reverend. >> now, you've been in politics a long time. can you explain what mccain is is up to with these attacks? >> well, obviously the political season is on. it's unfortunate. i mean, the issue here is this. one, the president of the united states has a right to name their secretary of state. this is traditionally always been given by the senate to the president. there's never any debate. secondly, is susan rice qualified? she certainly is. she's worked on african issues, a road scholar, as u.n. ambassador she's been the one that tightened the sanctions on libya, on north korea. she's articulate. she knows the issues. she's a very hard worker. that's the issue, reverend. and if the president wants to nominate her secretary of state, we should just put the politics aside. she didn't know about this benghazi issue. so -- >> that's what i want to get to. they are accusing her